She Knocked Me Out
by coffee-stained lips
Summary: Draco and Blaise's bet goes haywire when a Bludger comes by...One-shot. A response for evol love's challenge!


**Yes, it _is_ a one-shot, even though it's super long! When I start writing, I cannot stop! BTW, this is sixth year.**

Draco Malfoy sat in the bleachers as the Gryffindor Quidditch team practiced. They shot him nasty looks, wondering why he was hanging around. Draco wouldn't have been there if it weren't for a stupid bet he had made with Blaise Zabini.

They had been lounging by the Great Hall during free period. They were scoping out girls who were worthy enough of their handsomeness to invite to Hogsmeade. Not many girls were cute enough in Draco's opinion that he wanted to ask them out. A few were, but they were all in tight-knit groups and it was not his style to go up to a whole crowd unless he was flirting with all the girls.

"I think it's your stench that's keeping them all away." Blaise teased as Draco attempted to catch an attractive Ravenclaw girl's attention unsuccessfully. Draco laughed sarcastically.

"Or perhaps it's your face." he joked and Zabini's face became embarrassed. He glared at Draco for a moment. Then his mouth became a smirk.

"You couldn't even get Hermione Granger to date you." he said. Draco's own smirk turned upside-down to form a disgusted frown. Like he'd ever date that frizzy-haired Mudblood! Her blood wasn't worthy enough for him, since he was of a pureblood family. She may have grown prettier since she was eleven, but Draco continually reminded himself that she was a Mudblood—and a Gryffindor Mudblood at that. But she, like all the other females in Hogwarts, surely fancied him. It was a blessing and a curse to have such rugged good looks as a Malfoy.

"Watch me." Draco said as he noticed Hermione walking past them towards the library. Blaise snorted as Draco strutted up to her. She saw him moving towards her but did not stop walking. He smirked and her cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink. He had this in the bag.

"Hello, Hermione." he greeted, careful not to say Granger, "And how is this beauty today?" Hermione stopped in her tracks and turned to fully face him, her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Excuse me, Malfoy?" she said bitterly, "What'd you say to me?"

"Just wanted to ask if you'd like to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend." he said, "What say you?" Hermione rolled her eyes tiredly at him and placed a hand on her hip.

"Like I'd go anywhere with _you_." she said crossly. From behind him Draco heard Blaise snort to contain a laugh. Draco's smirk faltered somewhat, almost becoming a sneer, when he remembered he needed to keep his cool. He reached for Hermione's hand to pull her closer. But, when skin met skin, Hermione's hand whipped up to slap his cheek. Draco staggered, his cheek throbbing from the shock, and glared at her. How dare she disgrace him like that!

She lifted her nose into the air and walked quickly towards the library once more. Draco turned to face Blaise, who was not bothering to cover his amusement now that Hermione had gone. He walked over to Draco, laughing loudly. Draco simply glowered at him as he gently touched his stinging cheek.

"What'd I tell you?" he said.

"That was just bad luck." Draco snarled, "I can get her if I try hard enough."

"Ha!" Blaise laughed, "You couldn't even get her to kiss you!"

"Is that a bet?" Draco said, wishing to regain his honor.

"Heck yeah!" Blaise said, "I bet you ten Sickles you can't get Granger to kiss you for…six seconds by Saturday!"

"You're on!" Draco said, extending his pale hand. Blaise gladly shook it with his brown hand. The next day was Friday; since they were in different Houses and rarely in the same class, he'd only have a couple hours during free time to kiss Hermione.

So there he was, the Slytherin Prince, waiting for the Gryffindor Princess to come and watch her friends so he could kiss her.

Draco glanced around for the umpteenth time since he had arrived: still no sign of Mudblood Granger. He sighed in frustration, wishing that she would just come out so he could kiss her already. Blaise was sitting a few seats below him, munching on Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Draco glared at him but Blaise couldn't see for he was hunched over his box of treats. When Draco looked away from the back of Blaise's head, he found what he was looking for.

"There she is!" he whispered to Blaise. Blaise swallowed his beans and turned in the direction Draco was pointing. A smirk spread across his face.

"Well, go on and work your magic." he said, and laughed. Draco gritted his teeth angrily as he sneered at him. Then he hurried over to Hermione.

She was cheering on Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, her best friends and Draco's worst enemies. When she caught sight of him her face became cold and she stopped cheering. She turned her face away from him, pretending to be staring intently at something in the other direction.

"Hello." he greeted, smirking, "How're you?"

"Shut it, Malfoy." she said icily, "Can't you see I'm enjoying myself?" Draco's smirk disappeared and he started to feel angry. But instead of smirking again, he sighed. Hermione wasn't the kind who liked pick-up lines and flirty smirks. She liked it if guys made jokes and were sweet to her. That wasn't Draco's style. His style helped him catch many beauties but Hermione was a very different girl. He almost admired her for it.

"I'm sorry." he said quietly, which made her look at him, "I shouldn't be acting this way. Sorry I bugged you." He then started to walk away. He wasn't getting a kiss from her; not even a peck on the cheek. She hated him and he didn't even feel worthy of her, as surprising as that was. It was how he felt though, so he decided to just give her space.

"It's okay, Draco." she said, placing her hand on his arm. He turned around to see her with a guilty half-grin on. "I was being a little harsh, and _I'm _sorry." she said. He smiled—not smirked, but really, really smiled—at her. No one had ever spoken to him with such a respectful, kind tone, not even his own parents. And she was a Mudblood, which made it even more shocking.

"Thanks, Granger." he said, "You're not so bad, for a Mudblood." She chuckled quietly and rolled her eyes, but not in a mean way like usual.

"And I guess you're not that bad, for a Slytherin." she said. The two smiled at each other then, pure smiles. A strand of loose hair began dancing in Hermione's face, and she tried to blow it away fruitlessly. Draco reached a hand up and tucked the hair behind her ear. His hand moved down slowly onto her cheek. Her smile left but she was not pushing him off her. Draco closed his eyes absentmindedly as he leaned forward towards her. She leaned into him too, until their faces were a mere few inches from each other. They looked at the other's eyes for a second, and then they both closed their eyes completely. Hermione's breath pushed onto Draco's face. He sighed and brushed his lips against hers ever-so-slightly.

As he attempted to close the gap between them, a giant blow suddenly hit him in the head. He yelped and fell over, stumbling on the bleacher seats. He held his hand up to his pulsing temple as he strained to see what had hit him. Swimming in the air was a Bludger, and behind it was Ron, holding a Beater's stick up in the air. Harry moved by him and wrestled the stick from the redheaded boy, whose face was now as red as his hair. Hermione was yelling something incomprehensible at the two boys. The last thing Draco saw before he blacked out was Hermione's worried face close to his.

* * *

"He's waking up!" said a voice from beside Draco. He groaned as his eyes flittered open. The room was a blur around him. He could barely make out four unclear blobs moving about him. With a few more blinks he was able to see them plainly: Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini, Madam Pomfrey, and Hermione Granger were crowding him as he laid in the Hospital Wing. Pansy was in hysterics as she ran at him. She clutched his shoulders and cried onto his pillow as she yelled "He's alive!"

"Yes, yes, Malfoy is alive, Hallelujah!" Madam Pomfrey said, pulling Pansy off him, "However, his injury was quite bad. Hit by a Bludger, the poor dear. Now, since the injury was quite traumatic, I advise he has only one visitor."

"I'm staying!" Pansy wept, trying to run at Draco again but Madam Pomfrey held on tight to the girl's arms.

"Oh, no! Not you! You're too hysterical!" Madam Pomfrey said, "Zabini, Granger, decide who is staying while I direct Parkinson to her common room." With that, the nurse and the crying Pansy left.

"I'll head out." Blaise said, standing up. He walked over to Draco and whispered "Too bad, brother." Then he smirked and left the Hospital Wing too, leaving Hermione as Draco's sole visitor. She slowly rose from her chair and stood over him silently. Draco stared up at her, remembering how his lips had almost made contact with hers before that blasted Bludger.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Ron stole a Beater's stick and hit the Bludger at you because he was a little…upset that we were going to…you know." Draco nodded as Hermione's cheeks reddened again.

"Jealous, eh?" he said, smiling. Hermione laughed and shrugged.

"Why would he be?" she said, "I doubt he fancies me." Draco's brow knitted in confusion.

"Why?" he asked, for he knew that many, many Hogwarts boys wished they were as close to Hermione as Ron and Harry were.

"I'm not very pretty." she said glumly, "My hair is all frizzy and my teeth are large and…and…" She sighed and looked away from Draco. He reached out his hand to caress hers. She looked back at him with a grin.

"You're gorgeous," he said, to which she blushed, "even if you _are_ a Gryffindor." She giggled at him.

"Thank you." she said. Then she leaned forward towards him. He closed his eyes as her lips met his. He moved his hand to run through her curls as she put her hand on his platinum blonde head. His other arm moved along her waist, and her other hand gripped the railing of his bed. Her kiss was sweet and he saw skyrockets in his brain. It was his first kiss; well, first _real_ kiss, if you excluded pecks from Pansy. But Hermione wasn't like Pansy. She was so much more.

Suddenly there was a creaking of the door. Hermione tore from Draco and the two turned to see Blaise staring at the two. Then he smiled and mouthed "You win" to Draco. But Draco had forgotten about the bet entirely while kissing Hermione.

Hermione's face was now a deep maroon as she started to walk away. Draco grabbed her hand and she stared at him. He smiled at her.

"Til next time…Granger." he said with a wink. She smiled at him, her face bright with happiness.

"See you later…Malfoy." she said, and left the Wing. Draco stared at the door as she left, remembering the way his lips tingled when they touched hers. He sighed dreamily. _Thank goodness for that blasted Bludger, _he thought.


End file.
